Introduction Know Your Client, or KYC, has become an increasingly important part of professional practice. For Australian tax and BAS practitioners, client verification isn't simply a compliance trend. The Tax Practitioners Board has specific guidance about verifying client identity. The TPB states that tax practitioners must undertake proof-of-identity checks before providing tax agent or BAS [...]
Introduction A trust-account audit should not be treated as a once-a-year scramble. The easiest way to make an audit stressful is to wait until the auditor asks for information before checking whether your records are complete. A better approach is to maintain audit-ready records throughout the year. For tax practitioners, this is particularly important because [...]
Introduction Xero and MYOB are widely used accounting platforms in Australia. But there is an important distinction between general business accounting and statutory trust accounting. The question is not whether a general accounting platform can record a bank transaction. The question is whether it provides the specific controls, records, workflows and audit trail required for statutory trust-account management. For tax practitioners, the [...]
Introduction The AML/CTF landscape for Australian accounting firms has changed significantly. From 1 July 2026, certain accounting services became subject to Australia's AML/CTF regime. The new requirements form part of Australia's broader Tranche 2 reforms covering sectors including accounting, legal, conveyancing and real estate. But there is an important point: Not every service provided by [...]
